Latest News
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California Governor vetoes Bill that would have Limited Air Quality Regulation
California Governor Gavin Newsom vetoed this week a bill that would have restricted the regulatory powers for air quality agencies in the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach - the two busiest ports complexes in the country - which are the main sources of local air pollution. California Senate Bill No. 34 prohibited the South Coast Air Quality Management District, located in the logistic hub counties of Los Angeles Orange Riverside and San Bernardino, from taking any actions that would, for example, impose a limit on the cargo throughput at ports or the number of cruise ship passengers. Newsom, in a Monday veto declaration, said: "With the federal administration directly undermining state and local air pollution reduction strategies and encouraging cooperative action at all level to avoid the worst climate and health impacts."
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Canada's transport safety agency raises alarm over a record number of runway incidents
MONTREAL - October 15, The Transportation Safety Board of Canada raised new concerns on Wednesday about near-misses after the number of cases of runway incursions reached a record in Canada last year. This was despite there being no actual collisions. In its annual watchlist, the transport safety agency calls for better use of technology and infrastructure. Data from the air traffic service provider NAV Canada shows that runway incursions increased to 639 in 2018 from 566 by 2023. This is the highest number recorded in the 15-year period for which data is available. When an aircraft or vehicle lands or takes off on a runway that is not intended for it, this is called a runway incursion. In the past few years, several near-misses have raised concerns about aviation safety, especially in the United States, where the understaffed air traffic controls are a concern. Southwest Airlines was only 200 feet behind the business jet in February when the pilot of the commercial airline aborted his landing to avoid a collision. Recent high-profile runway accidents are increasing pressure on aviation authorities, who want to mandate cockpit alert systems that prevent incursions.
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Ardian and Finint Infrastrutture agree to jointly buy Venice's airport operator
Ardian, an investment firm, and Finint Infrastrutture, a company that manages assets in Italy, have agreed to acquire Milione Spa together, which is the holding company of Save, which operates several airports, including Venice Marco Polo. According to a source familiar with the transaction, the equity value for the company is approximately 1.2 billion euro ($1.4 billion). The value of the company increases to 2.1 billion euro when debt is included. Milione is controlled by DWS Infrastructure & Infravia Capital Partners. The two companies announced their partnership on Wednesday. It was "designed to support the growth of Save and (Italian North-East Airport System) as well as establish a strategic operator who would pursue new acquisitions in order to achieve an external growth strategy." Save operates a network including Venice, Verona and Treviso in northern Italy. It also holds a stake at Charleroi Airport in Belgium. Banca Finint, Goldman Sachs and Mediobanca acted as advisors for Ardian. Rothschild, Morgan Stanley and Infravia assisted DWS and Infravia.
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Minister: Ukraine talks about US LNG imports following Russian attacks on gas sector
Oleksii Sbolev, Ukraine's Economy Minister, said that the United States and Ukraine are in talks to import liquefied gas following Russian attacks on Ukraine's gas infrastructure. Sobolev, after a meeting in Washington, said that "we are looking at financing mechanisms to purchase American LNG and compressors" due to Russian attacks. He gave no more details. In recent weeks, Russia has increased its attacks on Ukraine's energy system. It is targeting both gas and power plants. Svitlana Svitlana Hrynchuk, Ukrainian Energy Minister, said last week Ukraine wants to increase its gas purchases by 30% after airstrikes against its gas infrastructure. In a statement made earlier this month, Naftogaz, Ukraine's national oil and gas company, said that his firm had purchased around 0.5 billion cubic metres of U.S. Liquefied Natural Gas, of which the majority had been delivered.
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Storms, drone strikes and record oil exports put pressure on Russian port Novorossiisk
Three market sources reported that the Black Sea port in Russia, Novorossiisk, has reached its export capacity limit. This leaves traders scrambling to find a new route for crude oil, which it is unable to refine at home and can only produce because of increased OPEC+ quotas. Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its allies have been easing up on output restrictions. In addition, Russia's refining facilities carried out record amounts of maintenance in August, and September. This was partly due to damage caused by Ukrainian drones. As a result, its ability to process crude oil domestically has been reduced, and it now exports more. RECORD EXPORTS & REFINERY OUTAGES Refinery failures pushed Russia's monthly exports to a new record of 2.5 million barrels. Sources and estimates claim that the exports of Urals, KEBCO, and Siberian Light crude through Transneft’s pipeline system reached 0.8m bpd, the highest in at least five-years. According to market sources, the preliminary plan for October indicates that crude shipments will be at least 0,73 million bpd through Novorossiisk. The Transneft System has virtually no spare capacity, according to a source from a Russian oil firm who spoke under condition of anonymity as he wasn't authorized to speak in public. Transneft, the Russian pipeline monopoly, declined to comment. Export plans may be revised upwards if drone attacks cause damage. In 2025, drones and unmanned boats have repeatedly disrupted Russia's oil infrastructure. Transneft, the trunk pipeline system of Transneft, as well as several refineries, have all been targeted. In the months to come, there is a greater risk of disruption as storms frequently occur in Novorossiisk, which can cause delays and impede loading, while the Turkish Straits can also be a problem. Since the beginning of the conflict in Ukraine in February 2022 Russia has lost several buyers for pipeline-delivered oil, including Germany and Poland. This has increased its dependence on seaborne products. Other options for Russia to export crude oil by sea are Primorsk, Ust-Luga, and Kozmino in the Pacific, but diverting away from the Black Sea oil hub, Novorossiisk can be technically difficult. Barbara Lewis (Reporting and editing)
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Air India is expanding its talks with up to 300 new aircraft, according to sources
Air India has been in discussions with Airbus and Boeing about adding more wide-body aircraft to its planned purchase of up to 300 aircraft. This is a sign that the turnaround for the Tata Group's Air India has accelerated. Sources say that the negotiations include 80 to 100 wide body jets in addition to 200 narrow body jets and 25-30 large-body aircraft previously reported. Airbus stated that it "does not comment on confidential conversations, which may or might not happen with customers." Air India and Boeing didn't immediately respond to requests for comments. Air India had been reported to be in negotiations with Airbus or Boeing in June for a massive new aircraft order, including 200 additional narrow-body planes. This deal will top up the mammoth 2023 deal. This was on top of the earlier discussion involving 25-30 wide body jets that reported in March. According to people familiar with this matter, under the latest plans, the airline is looking at adding up to 300 planes. There was no immediate indication of how many of the orders were options and not firm orders. One source said that the split of such a deal is not finalised. Air India is currently in talks to get over a Boeing 787 crash that occurred in June in Ahmedabad, India. The crash killed 260 people. Air India could replace its aging planes and improve its international reach by adding more wide-body aircraft to its fleet. (Aditi Sha Abhijith Gaapavaram Tim Hepher; Editing by Adityakalra and Kirsten Doovan)
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Archer Aviation buys Lilium's 300 patent portfolio for $21 Million, shares soar
Archer Aviation, a provider of air taxi services, announced on Wednesday that it had won the bid to purchase Lilium's patent portfolio of approximately 300 patents related to advanced air mobility for a total price tag 18 million euros (20.91 million dollars). This will expand its portfolio to more than 1,000 patents. In morning trading, shares of the San Jose-based California company rose by approximately 8.5%. The Lilium portfolio includes high-voltage system, battery management and advanced aircraft design. It also covers flight controls, electric motors, propellers and ducted fan technologies. In 2015, German air taxi maker Lilium invested over $1.5 billion into electric vertical takeoff-and-landing aircraft (eVTOL). However, the company filed for bankruptcy last year due to unresolved issues with its finances. Despite the fact that commercial launch is still many years off, the eVTOL sector continues to burn through money as companies seek new investments to maintain operations. Experts in the industry say that further consolidation is inevitable, as firms rush to gain regulatory approvals, strengthen supplier networks, and bring aircraft to market. This is driven by the demand for cleaner, faster urban transportation. Air taxi companies in the United States are expected to gain from Washington's efforts to accelerate deployment via executive orders and pilot program announced last week. ($1 = 0.8607 euros)
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Azerbaijani oil exports through BTC pipeline fell 5.1% year-on-year between January and September amid contamination
Azerbaijani figures released on Wednesday showed that the country's oil exports through the Baku-Tbilisi - Ceyhan pipeline dropped to 20.6 millions metric tons during the period January-September, a 5.1% drop from the previous year. In July, organic chloride contamination was found in Azeri BTC crude shipments. This caused several days of delays in loading from Turkey's BTC Ceyhan Terminal. The BTC pipeline is used by BP to export oil from its Azeri, Chirag, and Guneshli fields. Azerbaijan shipped 27.6 millions tons of oil in the first nine month of this year, with 74.5% of that going through the BTC. This is according to the statistics committee of the country. Data showed that the volume of transit oil imported from other countries such as Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan via the BTC dropped to 3,164 million tons, from 4.005 millions tons during the same period in 2024. Reporting by Nailia bagirova, Editing by Andrew Osborn
US reveals record oil and gas contamination charge against Marathon Oil
U.S. officials on Thursday revealed a $241 million settlement with Marathon Oil over declared air pollution infractions at dozens of the company's oil and gas facilities on a North Dakota Indian appointment, stating it was part of a continuous crackdown.
The settlement consists of a record charge and environmental devices upgrades. President Joe Biden's administration has ratcheted up enforcement in the oil and gas sector to eliminate environment change and to counter pollution, especially in bad and minority neighborhoods.
The Marathon settlement represents a terrific advance in our efforts to attend to environment change through enforcement action, Todd Kim, assistant chief law officer with the Department of Justice's environment and natural resources department, stated in an interview.
The offer applies to years of alleged excessive unpredictable organic compound and methane emissions from wells, piping and storage tanks on the Fort Berthold Indian Booking, home of the Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara Nation, at the center of the big Bakken oil formation.
It is the administration's 12th targeting of the oil and gas sector emissions, but without a doubt its biggest.
This settlement is historical, and it is a game changer, Kim stated.
Under the deal, Marathon will pay a $64.5 million charge, the biggest ever for infractions of the Clean Air Act from fixed sources, according to the Environmental management Agency and the Department of Justice, which jointly submitted the settlement in federal court in North Dakota on Thursday.
That penalty is more than double the combined overall of the administration's 11 previous oil and gas Clean Air Act settlements, officials stated.
Still, it is overshadowed by Marathon's incomes, which were $ 1.55 billion in 2015.
The company will likewise invest an estimated $177 million to bring its centers into compliance with the law. That work will slash 2.25 million tons of co2 emissions over the next 5 years, about the equivalent of getting rid of 487,000 vehicles off the roadway for a year.
The settlement goes through a 30-day public comment period before it can be settled.
The federal government's problem declared that Marathon, which is being gotten by ConocoPhillips in a $22.5 billion deal that has yet to be completed, failed to obtain required permits for its centers.
Marathon did not right away react to a request for comment.
The stepped-up enforcement effort is in line with Biden's. goal to decrease emissions of methane, a potent international warming gas. that leakages from drill sites and pipelines, and with the vow to. deal with pollution from oil and gas operations close to poor. communities.
A representative for the MHA Country did not immediately. respond to a request for remark.
(source: Reuters)